 /*******************************************************************************
  * Copyright (c) 2000, 2006 IBM Corporation and others.
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
  * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
  *
  * Contributors:
  * IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation
  *******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.update.core;


 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IAdaptable;

 /**
  * Plug-in dependency entry.
  * Describes a feture dependency on a particular plug-in. The dependency
  * can specify a specific plug-in version and a matching rule for
  * satisfying the dependency.
  * <p>
  * Clients may implement this interface. However, in most cases clients should
  * directly instantiate or subclass the provided implementation of this
  * interface.
  * </p>
  * <p>
  * <b>Note:</b> This class/interface is part of an interim API that is still under development and expected to
  * change significantly before reaching stability. It is being made available at this early stage to solicit feedback
  * from pioneering adopters on the understanding that any code that uses this API will almost certainly be broken
  * (repeatedly) as the API evolves.
  * </p>
  * @see org.eclipse.update.core.Import
  * @since 2.0
  */
 public interface IImport extends IAdaptable, IUpdateConstants, IPlatformEnvironment {

     /**
      * The import relates to a plugin
      * @since 2.0.2
      */
     public static final int KIND_PLUGIN = 0;
     
     /**
      * The import relates to a feature
      * @since 2.0.2
      */
     public static final int KIND_FEATURE = 1;

     /**
      * Returns an identifier of the dependent plug-in.
      *
      * @return plug-in identifier
      * @since 2.0
      */
     public VersionedIdentifier getVersionedIdentifier();

     /**
      * Returns the matching rule for the dependency.
      *
      * @return matching rule
      * @since 2.0
      */
     public int getRule();
     
     /**
      * Returns the matching rule for the dependency identifier.
      *
      * @return matching id rule
      * @since 2.1
      */
     public int getIdRule();
     
     /**
      * Returns the dependency kind
      *
      * @see #KIND_PLUGIN
      * @see #KIND_FEATURE
      * @return KIND_PLUGIN if the dependency relates to a plugin,
      * KIND_FEATURE if the dependency relates to a feature.
      */
     public int getKind();
     
     /**
      * Returns the patch mode. If the import is in patch mode,
      * the referenced feature is considered a patch target,
      * and the feature that owns the import is patch carrier.
      * Patch carrier and patched feature are linked in a
      * distinct way: if a patched feature is disabled,
      * all the patches are disabled with it.
      * @return true if the element represents a patch
      * reference, false otherwise.
      */
     public boolean isPatch();
 }

